An electric power steering apparatus disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 described below has been configured as an electronic apparatus that includes: a rotating electrical machine having a plurality of multi-phase winding sets; and a plurality of inverter circuits arranged for the plurality of multi-phase winding sets respectively and connected to the plurality of multi-phase winding sets respectively.
The electric power steering apparatus includes: a motor; a first inverter unit and a second inverter unit; and a control unit. The motor includes a first winding assembly and a second winding assembly. The first winding assembly and the second winding assembly are respectively configured by connecting three windings in a star shape. The first inverter unit is connected to the first winding assembly, and the second inverter unit is connected to the second winding assembly. The control unit is connected to the first inverter unit and the second converter unit. The motor corresponds to the rotating electrical machine; the first winding assembly and the second winding assembly correspond to the multi-phase winding; and the first inverter unit and the second inverter unit correspond to the inverter circuit.
The control unit controls the first inverter unit and the second inverter unit so that three-phase currents are supplied to the first winding assembly and the second winding assembly from the first inverter unit and the second inverter unit. Therefore, the motor generates a torque that assists in steering. In addition, the control unit detects a fault. The control unit evaluates a phase current added value that adds each phase current to each of the winding assemblies, and determines a short circuit occurs between the part where the first inverter unit and the first winding assembly are arranged and the part where the second inverter unit and the second winding assembly are arranged when the difference of the phase current added values with regard to the first winding assembly and the second winding assembly is out of a predetermined range.
The electric power steering apparatus mentioned above determines whether a short circuit occurs based on the difference of the phase current added value of the first winding assembly and the phase current added value of the second winding assembly. Accordingly, it is possible to detect a short circuit also when a ground fault occurs. In other words, it is difficult to detect a short circuit in distinction from a ground fault.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-165541